In Absentia
by ReaderOwl2816
Summary: Bad news: Twilight Sparkle got hit by a corruption spell. Good thing the Elements of Harmony fix these things quickly- well, that is, if they can figure out how to use them one member short before things get too out of hand (or rather, hoof).
1. Chapter 1

A nondescript figure stood in front of the Tree of Harmony. It smiled, and an aura of magic activated.

Hoofsteps pounded in a rhythmic frenzy, and their skidding halt and cry of alarm heralded the entrance of Twilight Sparkle and her friends. She'd brought the whole crew- including Spike and Starlight.

"Stop!" She cried. "What are _you_ doing here?"

The only reply was a wicked laugh that echoed until you couldn't quite tell where it had come from in the first place.

"Step away from the tree!" yelled Rainbow Dash.

The figure made no effort to do this. Instead, it finally released the magic it had been carefully building up.

A crackling bolt of dark energy shot out, heading directly for the Tree of Harmony. Twilight raced forward and released a beam of magic in an effort to intercept the spell.

There was a loud crack in the air as the spells met, kicking up a cloud of dust. Everything stilled for a single moment. The two spells hung in a stationary ball of energy. All present held their breath. One question burned in everyone's mind: _Had it worked?_

Then, the ball of energy became a beam again, of dark and faintly pink magic. It rocketed forward- not towards the tree, but towards Twilight herself. She hastily attempted to shield against it, but when the beam hit the shield it spread across its surface, trapping her in a ball of dark magic.

Everyone stared in horror. Muffled cries escaped from the shield-turned-prison. It suddenly shrunk inwards, directly inside of her.

One magical light show later, Twilight reappeared. She looked perfectly normal.

Then, she suddenly burst into the air and fired a beam of magic down on her shocked friends.

Thankfully, they had brought Starlight, who shielded against the beam. Twilight cried out angrily and built up magic around herself, before flying directly into the shield.

It shattered in a burst of energy and everyone was scattered by the explosion. Twilight had made a crater in the ground, but seemed no worse for wear. Taking the opportunity of everyone else being stunned, she rocketed off and flew into the distance.

Everypony sat stunned. They didn't even realize that the nondescript figure had slipped away quite a while ago in the chaos.


	2. Chapter 2

For a while, nopony moved. The silence that had fallen was like a heavy blanket too oppressive to move.

They couldn't sit in silence forever, though. At least, that was Applejack's reasoning when she stood up and stretched.

"Well, y'all," she began, " I think perhaps we ought to head on back to town and figure out what's happening."

There were nods and murmurs of agreement all around as everyone collectively stood and prepared to go.

When they got there, Ponyville was... an interesting sight indeed. It looked the same, but nopony was outside. No stormclouds, no dull atmosphere, but no cheerful chatter or birdsong. Such a pleasant and busy place- empty? That was almost worse than an overcast sky.

By instinct everypony in the little ensemble made their way to Twilight's castle. That, however... that had changed.

The crystalline tree that made the base of the castle was altered from its usual purple-blue shine to a black and magenta shine. The more castle-y part was a deeper purple, and the accents and roof, peculiarly, remained gold. The symbol of Twilight's cutie mark at the top was probably the most odd change. It was now glowing magenta, giving off pulses of magic every few seconds.

Clearly heading to the castle hadn't been their brightest idea. At least they didn't try to go in. In fact, upon realizing the changes in the castle there had been a collective step backwards.

"Did you know she could make the castle look different like that? 'Cuz I sure didn't! I wonder if she can do that for everything. I should ask her if she can redo my room... It's surprisingly hard to paint random polka dots. Who knew, right?" This was, of course, Pinkie Pie speaking. It wasn't nearly the end of her ramble either, but the remaining portions were totally off topic, about things like potential alligator migration and whether or not one could grow candy.

This nonsensical contemplation was swiftly cut off by a very quiet creak. The door of the castle had opened a bit. Suddenly, Spike was picked up by a telekinetic force and pulled into the castle. The door slammed shut behind him. It had not escaped notice that the magical aura having done this was magenta, like Twilight's magic was, but it was streaked through by darker shades of the same color. This seemed an unwise time to pick a fight.

With the reluctance that comes with leaving an ally behind, the remaining of the group of ponies made their way out of town to an uncertain destination.


End file.
